WE DESERVE REAL CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP THAT WILL REPRESENT AND PROMOTE MINNESOTA'S INTERESTS.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Strib calls Kline's behavior "contemptible" and deserving of defeat

From the Strib Editorial page:

"Defeat this November is the deserved consequence for every incumbent member of Congress who has sung with gusto the bunting-draped "We'll fight them over there" chorus that was written and produced for them by the White House. Two especially deserving of that consequence in Minnesota are Rep. Mark Kennedy, who is running for the Senate, and Rep. John Kline, who is running for reelection.

"Kline's behavior has been especially contemptible because he is a retired Marine officer. It's difficult to comprehend that someone of that background would demonstrate so little regard for the troops that he would vigorously support sending them to fight and die in a war that puts their nation at risk.

"The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq makes quite clear that Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism. It is, rather, the central recruiting office and training ground for new terrorists. The United States needs to find a way out of there. To get out, it needs a transformed Congress capable of forcing a new course on the White House. President Bush refuses to acknowledge the bloody reality he has wrought. The only way he will ever confront that reality is if he is forced, by a Congress stripped of its fall-in-line supporters of the war."

The soldiers and Marines "know why they are in Iraq . ... They know what their mission is. And they understand [as] not everyone here does, that Iraq is the front line in the war against Islamist extremists... ."

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., in a June 16 speech on the House floor.

John Kline no longer speaks for 'the troops'. Not since he abandoned them to die with inadequate numbers, equipment, leadership, and benefits while fighting his NeoCon War without end.